Crowders Mountain State Park

Located near the South Carolina border on the outskirts of Gastonia, N.C., Crowders Mountain is considered a monadnock, or a hill that rises abruptly from the surrounding area, and is actually not even a mountain. It has been years since Emily and I went hiking without the girls, but with the grandparents watching them, we decided to leave early on Sunday morning to visit this park.

Crowders Mountain S.P. is located near the South Carolina border on the outskirts of Gastonia, N.C. There are several entry points for hiking. My wife and I first went to the Linwood Road Access. Even at 8:30 in the morning, the parking lot was full, families out hiking, groups, people with dogs, literally hundreds of people. We quickly ducked back in the car and headed to the Sparrow Springs Access.

The Ranger Station at Sparrow was quite palatial and appeared newer. There were fewer cars here, so we decided to hike up to Kings Pinnacle. It was a nice 2.2 mile hike to the summit, with only the last .5 miles being somewhat uphill. What made this hike so tough was the abominable humidity. The views from Kings Pinnacle were quite nice.

I really enjoyed hiking with my wife, talking and spending time in the woods. What I did not like was this park. The trails are severely wide, erosion is ever present, trail crew equipment was everywhere the weather was humid, and by the time that we had finished, the trailhead was filled to the brim. We must have passed 30 people on our descent from the peak.

While I am happy so many people are venturing outside, I will stay away from this park.

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4 thoughts on “Crowders Mountain State Park”

Man! I completely agree about not really liking Crowders Mountain. Actually – a fun story. I fell and busted my head wide open the first time I visited about 2-years ago. The exact spot your standing in your last picture.

I ended up venturing a second time with my dog, and it didn’t go well for either one of us. She became exhausted quickly because the trail we took was full of those thick rocks and hard for her (and me) after about a mile. The place was so crowded (go figure) and honestly, we won’t return either. Great views for sure, but not worth the heat, the un-kept trails, and well, the crowd. Great post. Thanks for sharing your honest opinion!

Dang!! Looks like not much has changed there… Hopefully your head wasn’t too hurt. It was tough to write that post, as I am genuinely happy people are venturing outside, but Crowders isn’t the kind of park that I would frequent, exactly for yor stated reasons.

I liked Kings Pinnacle… nice views, etc. However, I have no tolerance for crowds, throngs of people out on a trail.

Btw, I’m planning on getting out your way within the next year or two, possibly even beginning this fall, Jonathan. Want to get into the Smokies, Blue Ridge, and Shenandoah areas- (probably car camping/dayhiking with my wife if it’s not too crowded) and over to Wilmington and Wash., DC -probably take me a couple of years, as I think about it. Not really sure how doable it will be given my dislike of crowds. I’ll start looking more seriously this fall. Easier to avoid the crowds out west 😉